


Till we grow older

by liionne



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-22
Updated: 2013-10-22
Packaged: 2017-12-30 04:25:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1014058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liionne/pseuds/liionne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bones is de-aged, and Jim has to help him grow up again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Till we grow older

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry for any mistakes; I'm just about to go out to see Twelfth Night, and I want it posted before I go.
> 
> I hope you all enjoy!

"We did everything we could, sir, but he won't be back to normal for a long while yet. We estimate a couple of days, at minimum."

Jim looked at the lean-looking five year old clutching Chapel's hand and sucking his thumb, and gave a soft huff. Obviously, this was a problem. Bones had been hit with something - a chemical weapon designed to kill by deaging entirely, reducing the victim to the ball of cells they grew from - and the med team had done their best. It didn't help that they had lost their best mind to this deagent; Bones was the best in neural sciences, he would've been able to solve this.

But all Bones had wanted to do was sleep and suck his thumb.

"Does he have any memories?" Jim asked, leaning forward in the chair. He knew the bridge crew were all watching him, even if they were trying to be discrete about it.

"He remembers you." Chapel said, as if that were an answer. To be totally honest, she had no idea what he remembered; he hadn't said much except for, "Momma", "Sleepy" and "Jim" for the past few hours.

After a short pause, Jim sighed. "Alright. Take him back to med bay and-"

"I don' wan' 'oo." Bones murmured around his thumb.

Jim raised his eyebrows. He had nephews, and sometimes he saw his young cousins; he was pretty good with kids. But this was _Bones_... He leaned forward, now on eye level with Bones. "What was that?" He asked softly.

"I don' wan' 'oo." The child repeated. "I wan' stay here with 'oo."

He looked at Jim with wide, watery eyes, and Jim felt something inside of him melt away. When Bones held his arms out, pulling his thumb from his mouth for the first time, Jim pulled him up into his lap.

"Sir," Chapel said softly, as Bones curled little fingers into the gold fabric of Jim's shirt. "It's really best if we keep him down in med bay. His body will be changing on an almost hourly rate, and-"

"He's alright." Jim said, giving her a reassuring smile. Bones nestled his head under Jim's chin, seemingly quite content. "If there's any problems I'll comm."

Chapel gave a tight-lipped look that told Jim just how unimpressed she was. Whether she'd adopted the habit from McCoy or McCoy had adopted it from her he didn't know, but he knew he'd seen that look before.

"Just keep an eye on him, Captain. He'll be rapidly growing from here on out."

And with that she left, leaving Jim to wrap his arms around his new baby Leonard.

"You sleepy?" Jim asked, when Bones gave a soft sigh.

"Nuh uh." Bones murmured around a yawn.

Jim grinned a little. "You sure?"

Bones looked up at him with wide, glistening hazel eyes. "Will 'oo leave me?" He asked, his voice so much higher than the Bones Jim knew.

"'Course not." Jim reassured him, patting his back. "I'll be here." He said. As if he could leave, with Bones' fingers curled so tightly in his shirt.

"T'ank 'oo." Bones murmured, nuzzling into Jim just a little.

With a soft sigh, Jim smiled. "G'night, sleepy."

~*~

Bones refused to leave Jim's lap, and it was sort of starting to freak the captain out. Jim had been able to _feel_ him growing, feel the bones stretch and shift in his weird, freaky, rapid aging whilst he slept. When he did the math, Jim worked out that he aged one year for every hour. What they were going to do after thirty-one hours, when Bones was back to normal, Jim didn't know.

That was the scariest part, he thought.

Bones sniffled, the first noise he'd made - except for his soft, slow breathing - in a while. Jim looked down, and found the tears in his eyes.

"What's wrong, Bo- Len?" Jim shifted him in his lap so that he could see his face. Tears ran down his cheeks, and although Jim thought they might've just been crocodile tears at first, he decided they were real when the little boy grimaced.

"Hurts." He murmured, giving another sniffle and burying his face in Jim's shirt.

Jim paused, before pressing a kiss into the mop of dark hair tucked below his chin. Bones sobbed quietly into his chest, and Jim thought he might cry too as he pulled out his communicator.

"Chapel, bring some form of pain relief to the bridge, please."

There was a pause, and then her voice, "For McCoy?" She asked.

Jim looked grimly out of the viewing window as Leonard gave a soft shudder. "For McCoy." He confirmed, flipping away his communicator when she told him she'd be right there.

Leonard looked about seven years old now, verging on eight, and he tried so very hard to hold back any and all tears that fell. He wasn't very good at it, though.

It was when he heard Bones mumble something about his father into his shirt that Jim's heart nearly broke in two.

He tried comforting him, but Leonard just hiccuped and continued to sob.

Chapel was on the bridge after what felt like an eternity. Jim shifted him on his lap so he could face her; she confirmed that he was now eight years old, and they'd worked out that at ten years old aging should slow a little.

"We fixed the serum we gave him so that it should roll to a halt about where he was before," she explained, as she prepped a hypo. "When he hits twenty it'll slow down even more."

"I thought you said this'd be fast?" Jim grimaced.

Chapel looked up at him, and down at the hypo. "Better to have McCoy back slowly than not have him back at all, correct?"

Of course she was right. Chapel was always right. Sighing, Jim nodded, and pressed a comforting kiss to the back of Bones' head.

"This shouldn't hurt, Leonard, but you might feel a bit of a pinch," Chapel warned him. He nodded; he already knew. Jim reached out to take his hand, and when Bones turned his head to look at him, almost out of shock, Chapel decided to give him the hypo.

He whimpered a little, but Bones didn't say anything. He was being a big boy, apparently.

"He might get a little sleepy," Chapel said, as Bones shifted to tuck himself into Jim again. "But please keep an eye on him. Comm me if he needs anything else."

Jim nodded, and wrapped his arms around Bones once again.

~*~

It didn't help that they'd discovered a new planet, and were trying to get into it's orbit to establish First Contact.

"Sir," Uhura said from her station. "We've got a call coming through from the Emperor of this planet."

"Shit." Jim muttered under his breath. He couldn't have a call going when he had Bones snuggled up on his lap like this. It would look strange; vulnerable, maybe. He didn't want to expose Bones more than he already had been.

"Tell him the Captain's away from his station and he'll be back right away. Play some Hold music or something, I don't know."

Bones had fallen asleep again, so it was pretty easy for Jim to pick up his lean, eight year old body, and carry him back to his quarters. He lay him down on Jim's bed, covering him up with the blankets and pressing a kiss to his forehead. "You stay right here," He told him, even though Bones was totally out of it, before returning to the bridge in a hurry.

~*~

"Sir, where's McCoy?"

Chapel had moved almost silently to Jim's side, and he jumped. "Jesus, Nurse, are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

"Where's McCoy?" She repeated.

Jim did not like the sinister tone to her voice.

"My quarters." Jim answered, almost sheepishly.

She pressed her lips into a thin line. "Permission to speak freely, sir?" She asked, her voice sounding almost strained.

Jim knew he was going to regret this. "Permission granted."

"I told you to keep an eye on him!" She cried, almost immediately after gaining his consent. "He's aging again, Jim, if there are any complications _at all_ he could be in serious trouble. If you didn't want him on the bridge you should've sent him back to me-"

She shifted the handle of her med kit in her hand, and turned. "I'll go and check on him, I suppose. And I'll take him back to med bay-"

"I'm off shift now anyway," Jim told her, standing when she turned to the door. "I'll watch him."

She looked at him warily. Obviously, he had now lost her trust, and was totally in her Bad Book. But he didn't want Bones to go back to med bay; he'd rather have him with him, right where he could see him.

"Alright." She nodded. "But I'll be making hourly checks."

Jim nodded, walking her to the turbolift. As the doors shut, she continued to look at them. "Just take care of him, sir." She said.

Jim nodded, looking at her and wondering if maybe she was part Vulcan; he couldn't have remained that stoic if he'd tried. "I will."

~*~

Bones was still sleeping, but it was obvious he'd gotten up, because Jim's PADD lay on the bed and there was a medical journal open on it. A damn medical journal. Bones looked about twelve.

Jim kissed his forehead and went to take a shower, and get changed. Of course normally Bones' presence wouldn't phase him, and he'd strip right in front of him. But he wanted to preserve Bones' innocence a little while longer, and so he got changed in the bathroom.

When he came back, Bones was up. In his head Jim knew he should've looked about older right now, seeing as another hour ticked over, but he was still only little. Well, little-ish. He gave Jim a sleepy sort of smile, and rubbed his eyes.

"How you feeling?" Jim asked, moving to sit down next him on the bed.

Bones looked up at him and smiled. "'m okay," He said. "Better now, after that nap."

His accent was so much broader now, as a little boy, and if he had of been any older it would have given Jim the tingles.

"Good." He nodded. "That's good." He paused, and looked at his PADD, which was sat in Bones' hands. The first time Jim had met Eleanora, Bones' mother, she'd told him how he had an old head on his shoulders. Jim hadn't really understood that until now.

"'m sorry for clingin' to you like I did." Bones said. Obviously his short term memory was intact.

"Don't be stupid," Jim said, smiling softly. "Whatever makes you feel better, Len, I'll do it."

Bones raised an eyebrow, apparently a look he'd had ever since he was little. "You mean that?"

"Sure." Jim chuckled, putting an arm around his shoulders and giving him a squeeze. "Anything you want."

~*~

Chapel came to give him another update on his pain meds; she told him that she'd give him a sedative too, to keep him under for the worst of the pain. Now that his growth was one year per two hours rather than one, the pain was less intense, more dull and constant, which was sort of worse.

"He'll be out for a good eight hours, Jim." She told him. "If not longer. I'd get your sleep while you can."

Jim nodded. He watched as Bones eyelids drooped, and then he fell under completely. Jim was going to take the couch, but Leonard snuffled and mumbled something when he tried to pull his hand away.

Chapel just gave a small smile as she left the room, leaving them to it.

Jim wrapped himself around Bones' body, pulling the boy against his chest. Bones was already tall for his age, but he was lanky, not half as solid as he would be in later life. Or that Jim hoped he would be, in a minimum of 40 hours time.

Jim fell asleep wondering if Bones would look any different when he was all back to normal.

~*~

Jim woke when he felt a strong hand running down his side, and for a moment, he forgot everything that had happened the day before.

"Bones," He mumbled into the pillow, turning his face away. "Geroff."

His hand disappeared, and Jim felt him shuffle to the edge of the bed; that was what made him open his eyes. Normally, Bones would pester him until Jim reacted, but he had bolted away to the other side of the bed.

It took a moment for the room to come into focus, and then he was met with the startling sight of a fresh faced, eighteen year old Bones, and he remembered what had happened not so long ago.

"How old are you?" Jim asked, trying to keep his eyes on Jim's face and not his bare chest (when had that happened, anyway?).

"Eighteen, I think." Bones returned, biting his bottom lip.

"Woah," Jim murmured. He blinked a few times. "How long was I out?"

"About fourteen hours." Bones answered quitely.

" _Fourteen_?" Jim gaped.

"You woke up a couple'a times, but went back to sleep. You were tired." Bones explained.

Jim nodded as he took that in. Fourteen hours. Shit.

Bones ran a hand through his hair, and Jim wondered why he looked so damn awkward. And then he remembered the hand that had placed a tentative touch to his side, and he understood. He reached over to grab Bones hand, remembering just how god damn awful hormones were in those last stages of puberty. He pulled him closer, and Bones went gladly.

"You feeling okay? Have the pain meds ran out?" Jim asked, just to be sure. He ran a hand over Bones' bare skin, and felt him shiver.

"'m fine." Bones drawled, tilting his head back to look up at Jim. He was starting to look a little more like the Bones Jim knew; he'd built up a bit of muscle, and he'd managed to achieve that strong jawline, and broad hands. He just had a little bit of filling out and roughing up to do before he'd be completely back to normal.

"And 'm legal now." He continued.

Now it was Jim's turn to shiver.

Bones pressed a kiss to Jim's lips, a cautious, gentle kiss, not wanting to press too far into it in case Jim pushed him away. But for a moment, Jim pulled him closer, hands roaming over the smooth, and surprisingly tanned, skin.

And then he pushed him away just a little, and tried to ignore the hurt in Bones' eyes.

"We can't, Bones." Jim told him, although he was loathe not to take this opportunity when Bones was obviously so willing. "I can't take advantage like that."

Bones bit down on his lip, and Jim wondered if that was a nervous gesture he'd grown out of along the way. "Alright."

"I'm sorry." Jim said.

Bones shook his head. "I said it's alright, Jim." He pressed a soft kiss to Jim's lips before pulling away. "We'll wait till I'm back to normal, right?"

Jim nodded. "Right."

He gave Bones' lips a quick peck, and pulled him into his chest again.

~*~

"I've decided that this god damn sucks."

Aging wasn't as easy to pin down now that it was slowing down, and Bones was pretty god damn pissed. The med team had decided not to let him back until he reached the age he'd left med school, despite the fact that he swore he could remember everything he'd leaned.

"How long have you got until you can go back?" Jim asked, sat on the sofa in the rec room. He'd left an eighteen year old Bones in his quarters, and when he'd come to retrieve him after his eight hour shift, he'd found a twenty two year old Bones grouching about not being allowed to go back to work.

"Who the hell knows?" He snapped, throwing himself down next to Jim. Two engineers kept looking at him, turning away and giggling every time Bones looked over. "And I wish people wold stop lookin' at me." He scowled.

"Well who blames them?" Jim asked, giving a shrug, and then a flithy grin. "You're pretty damn hot."

"Stop it." Bones snapped.

Jim sighed. "I'm starting to think I should've just slept with you while you were still eighteen."

A blush crept up Bones' neck to his cheeks and his ears, turning his skin a shade of deep red. "Shut up."

Jim just chuckled as he sipped at his drink.

Chapel darted into med bay, blonde locks flicking from side to side as she looked around.

"McCoy!" She cried, running gracefully to stand in front of him. "We've got an engineer come in, we think he needs a nerual graft- We don't want anyone but you to do it."

Bones narrowed his eyes at her. "I thought you didn't want me to practice?"

"Please."

Jim wasn't sure he'd ever heard Chapel sound so sincere in her whole life.

Bones nodded. "Alright." He stood, putting a hand on Jim's shoulder before following her out, breaking into a jog.

~*~

Bones was in med bay for a very long time.

When he emerged, he went straight back to his quarters to rest.

The surgery had taken a stupidly long time, but the engineer in question was going to survive, so Jim figured it was worth it. He didn't see Bones until after his next shift; he wandered down the hall to his quarters, not entirely sure of what he'd find when he got there.

As usual, he didn't knock; he waltzed right in, and called, "Bones?"

He emerged from the bathroom, nothing but a towel slung around his waist. He looked firmer, more solid, his muscle mass having come back to him. His jaw looked stronger, and his hands broader. He'd filled out, and he tutted at Jim as he walked to his bed.

Bones was back; Jim was almost relieved. He decided to show Bones this by wrapping his arms around his waist and pressing kisses into the still damp skin of his back.

"I'm gonna change the damn lock on that door." Bones told him.

"It's good to have you back." Jim said in return.

Bones spun around in his arms, and pressed a long, hard kiss to Jim's lips. "Y'know, elven years ago you told me you weren't gonna take advantage of me."

"You mean a day ago." Jim corrected.

Bones gave a lopsided smirk. "Whatever."

"I also said to wait until you were back to normal." Jim prompted, after a short pause. He grinned, pressing a hard, firm kiss to Bones' lips, and letting the towel fall down to the floor.


End file.
